Vehicles frequently utilize exterior lighting assemblies and/or apparatus in order to increase visibility for an interior operator and/or to permit an external observer to determine a location of the vehicle during operation. Such increased visibility can provide numerous safety benefits for land, sea, and air vehicles. However, disposing a light source on or in an external surface of a vehicle can subject the light source to a wide variety of hazards or risks which might compromise or otherwise damage the light source. Such risks may include damage from an external object or event, such as a lightning strike or impact by a foreign object. Unfortunately, some light sources, such as light emitting diodes (LEDs), are particularly vulnerable to damage from such external factors. The use of such light sources for some exterior lighting applications, such as external search light applications, has thus been limited, despite other advantages offered by these light sources. Therefore, there is a need for improved lighting apparatus and methods of protecting light sources such as LEDs from lightning strikes or other electrical events, including exposure to strong electromagnetic fields and/or plasma discharges having a high degree of ionization.